The book begins by establishing that Meng Xiyue transmigrated, but this is very much a transmigration story where there is almost no reason for the transmigration to occur in the first place. The best way to think about the transmigration in this story is actually as a metanarrative setting establisher. While Meng Xiyue does not really face any of the classic mental crises that often come in novels that play on the transmigration trope (e.g. being unable to decide if characters in the new world are real or not), it is helpful to read Meng Xiyue as if she fundamentally accepts that the world she is in is that of a melodramatic dominating CEO novel, and interacts with the world in that way.

Background plots in the book are ok in the sense that they never get too in the way of the romance of the FLs. They absolutely cannot stand on their own, but they don't feel as if they take up too much time and start falling apart from overexposure. Side characters often are seemingly just dropped without much reason for existing, and this is especially true for any side couples. The acting subplot for Xia Yuan is pretty much just used for excuses for the FLs to interact in different ways, which is exactly what this book needed it to be. The business plot does briefly come into focus occasionally and, while still often used for FL interactions, is also much more tied to the plotline of the original book.

The book ML/book FL/villainess Xia Yuan interactions are... complicated. Early on, it appeared to me to be a classic moral commentary novel; that is, one where the transmigrated or just generally undramatic FL looks at the disaster going on with them, and interacts with whoever the romantic interest is, teaching them to love in a more healthy way. The summary of the book also led me to go in with this interpretation. However, this interpretation doesn't really work for me for a couple of reasons.

First, the morals are not nearly as clear cut as this type of storyline usually goes for. If there's a consistent moral throughline being shown, it's a very nuanced and particular one that would expect a lot more explanation than is actually given. Second, we don't really have the sort of moral carthesis scenes this sort of storyline generally revolves against. Shitty people do tend to get what's coming to them to some extent, but Xia Yuan never really has super significant "I see, so this is a healthy relationship, I was being f*cked over/a shitty person" type moments. Third, the original book plot takes an extremely heavy backseat and the book FL barely gets any screentime or onscreen development, which this sort of storyline would generally expect because of how much of an absolute dumpsterfire the interactions were.

Rather, if this is treated as just more background dressing, suddenly it starts making more sense. Meng Xiyue simply cannot be bothered with dealing with the melodramatic world of the book, and while she does step in occasionally to interfere with certain situations, she mostly keeps well away in favor of her business and later on, her relationship with Xia Yuan. This does inherently mean that all of the premise aside from the relationship between the FLs is weak; inherently, the book ML and book FL, for example, are mostly flat sterotypes in order to maintain that generic melodramatic novel window dressing.

Luckily, the development of the relationship between Meng Xiyue and Xia Yuan is done in a rather interesting and novel way that I found to keep my attention through the book, as well as develop enough of a liking for the two to sustain my interest through the parts after the relationship had settled into a groove.

An important part of this was due to how the two characters development over the course of the book was handled. It's common for the cold character to completely thaw once getting into a relationship, and for the villainess to completely shed her villainous persona (very often she never really had a villainous persona at all). Both Meng Xiyue and Xia Yuan keep their inital personalities unusually intact, while also showing their development over time well. Meng Xiyue remains very reserved, but even early on, you can feel that she pays ever so slightly more attention to Xia Yuan than anyone else, and the many times that she steps out of her own comfort zone for her provides a fun ambiguous tinge to their interactions even before she started liking her. Xia Yuan keeps her dramatic, high society persona, but redirects it towards a partner that actually likes her back, and the moments where the thought of Meng Xiyue's disapproval holds her back from acting like a sterotypical pathetic villainess are very enjoyable.

The way their relationship ultimately came together with Xia Yuan incorrectly assuming Meng Xiyue was already in love with her, only for Meng Xiyue to realize that she did in fact like her and simply accepting it was a good capstone and I think shows off the somewhat unusual and fun relationship style that heavily carries this book.